Do you love woodpeckers? Is there a red-headed woodpecker constantly at your suet feeders or a downy woodpecker drumming on nearby trees? Does that pileated woodpecker visit your yard often or have you spotted a northern flicker in a nearby park? Share your sightings in a woodpecker photo gallery by submitting pictures via email this week!

I will select the best woodpecker photos to join the gallery and proper credit for all photographers will be given. Photos of adults and juveniles are welcome, and different behaviors are also a great addition. When submitting a photo, please identify the woodpecker and describe the image (where and when it was taken, etc.) if possible.

This week’s featured bird is one of my favorites: the Eurasian collared-dove. When I spotted a pair of these distinctive doves at my backyard feeders, I initially mistook them for mourning doves, but their clear half-moon collar is a bold marking that is easily identified. While they can be shy guests, they are gentle and beautiful additions to anyone’s backyard. As their range continues to spread to the north and west, more birders are sure to find them as frequent visitors to seed and ground feeders.

Do you have pictures of your favorite backyard birds you’d like to share? Email me and your photos could be part of a future bird gallery or profile!

Eurasian Collared-Dove
Photo © Melissa Mayntz

The Associated Press has reported that a new bird species has visited the United States for the first time: the pine flycatcher has been seen in Choke Canyon State Park in Texas in the past few weeks. Native to Central America, these tiny birds normally spend the winter months in higher elevations to the south, the northernmost extent of their regular range.

Many birders have been flocking to see this rare bird, which is yet unconfirmed by the Texas Bird Records Committee and the American Birding Association. This brings to mind an ethical quandary for many eco-sensitive birders, however. By gathering large crowds to see an unprecedented species, birders can actually disturb and distress the bird, possibly causing health and habitat problems and violating other sound birding ethics.

Do you think it is right for birders to disrupt possibly distressed birds just to add a rare bird sighting to their life list? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Just a quick heads up for all newsletter subscribers: to better bring you weekend birding tips and to perk up the mid-week doldrums, the Birding and Wild Birds newsletter will now be published on Thursdays rather than Mondays. This change should be effective as of January 12, so there should not be a January 12 newsletter – but look for a better newsletter on January 15.

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